It has been barely a few weeks since I found out I'll be heading to Cambridge from sunny San Francisco and the excitement and anticipation of my MBA journey were too much to resist the temptation to start this blog. I hope it will serve as a reflection board for my experiences in the coming couple of years, as well as help me stay in touch with my friends.
A little about me, I'm Bulgarian, with a Russian mom. I came to the US almost 10 years ago and went to Penn and the Wharton School to get my BA and BS in International Studies and Finance. Since graduating in 2001, I've moved to the West Coast, to San Francisco to be specific, and grown to love the Bay Area. I am currently working for an investment advisory firm, in their private equity group. Some of my closest friends and my boyfriend, Ryan, live in San Francisco and it's the place where I eventually want to come back immediately after graduation.
Some of the silly questions going through my mind as I start my journey - what do dorm rooms look like and is it worth paying more for an apartment? Will I miss cooking or will I prefer the convenience of not having to furnish my own place? Will I miss my car and is zipcar as convenient as they make it out to be? (hey, there's only a couple of locations on campus and I'm not exactly looking forward to walking in sub-zero temperatures to pick up a car) How will I feel being 2 years older than the average age? Will Ryan get used to the red-eye trips to Boston and how can I make him feel as involved as possible in the MBA experience? Will I have time to visit my family in Russia with my mom in August? Will it be FREEZING cold? (it's funny how quickly the Bay Area spoils people)...
A lot of this will be answered during Admit Weekend - Ryan and I are going to Boston early March to meet admits, other students and scout the residential options. I'm proud of him as he's taking this whole thing with his usual sense of humor! San Francisco admits are already busy organizing local happy hours, and of course we had the official "West Coast Admit Reception", which was a "taste" of the HBS experience with a mini-case study by a very engaging HBS entrepreneurship professor (who did a case on the Patriots and their coach). We also met other admits, alumni and representatives of the administration. The reception started with an "ice breaker" with admits running around trying to match people's names to a list of accomplishments, conveniently extracted from obscure corners of our applications. While hockey coaches, debate contest winners, non profit fundraisers, flute musicians and other super achievers were trying to match up each other's accomplishments, I was busy trying to dodge anyone asking about the person who had won the Ayn Rand essay contest in high school (HIGH SCHOOL, for god's sake!!! and 3rd place!!!) I personally claimed the "wants to be a chef" description although everyone knows that Ryan's the one who really knows how to cook at home. Oh well :)
One thing I'll never forget from my HBS admission interview was an observation my interviewer made about the school and the students. At the end of our interview I had asked Hilary, who is an HBS Career coach and Career Services liaison for the West Coast, about what she thought the biggest challenge for HBS students was. She said something that I will never forget - she said it was keeping perspective. Apparently, there is some self-created pressure for second years to line up job offers and know where they'll be going by as early as November. Keeping perspective was another oft-mentioned theme at the Admit Reception. Alums were talking about the danger of being a "kid in a candy-store" at HBS. Talks, clubs, events, recruiting opportunities and all kinds of activities apparently are caught in a fierce fight for students' time and attention. Their word of advice - "know what you want to get out of the experience when you get there and keep your priorities in order".
So my goal over the next months is to make a mental list of my priorities, both personal and professional. The personal ones are clear - keep my relationship with Ryan alive through a combination of frequent flyer miles and red-eye trips. The professional ones are currently defined with a broad brush (stay on the buy side, potentially in private equity but open to exploring other investment fields such as long only and broader investment management). And with respect to personal development, I can't wait to start the "leadership transformation" process that is supposed to be at the heart of HBS' experience. Stay tuned!
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